Italian's "funny" claim he built the Inter Milan side which the Special One later steered to a Treble are dismissed with a chuckle and a shake of the head

Battle of the bosses: Mancini and Mourinho lock horns in Istanbul on Wednesday

Jose Mourinho has reopened his war of words with Roberto Mancini, writes Martin Lipton in Istanbul.

The Chelsea boss signaled his lack of respect for the Italian with a withering dismissal of Mancini’s recent claim that he was the true architect of Inter Milan’s Treble glory in 2010.

Former Manchester City chief Mancini - now in charge of Galatasaray, who host the Special One's Londoners on Wednesday in the first leg of a Champions League last-16 tie - was replaced by the Portuguese at the San Siro in 2008.

Mourinho went on to lift the Treble of Champions League, Serie A and Coppa Italia in his second season, but Mancini said the Portuguese had merely been the beneficiary of his preparation and planning work.

Mancini never got beyond the last eight of the Champions League in seven campaigns as boss of Lazio, Inter and City, while Mourinho is seeking to become the first manager to lift the European Cup with three different clubs.

But the Italian insisted: “Mourinho won the Champions League because he took a good team. He took a team that, like Manchester City, I had built, a team that had a strong mentality. When I went to Inter, they played very bad football and we changed this.”

Mourinho hit back, shaking his head in disbelief at Mancini’s boasts, before exhaling and laughing: “Pfft. It’s funny, it’s funny. It’s funny because my team in the final had Lucio, Motta, Milito, Eto’o, Pandev and Sneijder.

“From my 11 players, he [Mancini] didn’t work with six of them. So he made a five-a-side team because I played with only five players from his team!”

Meanwhile, Mancini joked: "I wish we were both playing!"

Mourinho is confident he will out-think his Galatasaray counterpart, who has given Chelsea an "80 per cent" chance of going through to the last eight.

But the former Italy striker, who spoke of his "pride" at his achievements with City, insisted, with a degree of regret, that the managers will not be decisive.

"Two teams will play with some really good players," said Mancini. "These players can decide this game and unfortunately me and Mourinho can't play.

Claudio Villa

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"Everyone knows Chelsea are one of the best teams in Europe. They are top of the Premier League because they are a top team with players who can change a game in any moment, fantastic players. But we want to go to London [for next month's second leg] with a chance."

For Galatasaray to have that chance, Mancini needs two former Mourinho charges, Chelsea legend Didier Drogba and former Inter midfielder Wesley Sneijder, to shine.

"Didier was an important player for Chelsea and Wesley won the Champions League with Mourinho," he added. "They have a good relationship with him but they will be enemies for 90 minutes and have to play very well for us."

Dutch playmaker Sneijder admitted his bind with Mourinho remained strong. He said: "I'm very honest, I have special feelings for Jose because we won the Treble and had a great year together.

"Of course we're friends outside the pitch, but for these 90 minutes we will not be friends.

"The way we're playing now is the work of this coach. They're both really good coaches, strong tactically, and similar when the the opponent has the ball. But as people they are different."

What if the managers DID play? Well, here's Bobby Manc showing he's still got it...